Defense leads No. 3 Doherty past No. 4 Rams

Last night's matchup between offensive powers Shepherd Hill Regional and Doherty High lived up to its hype. After the third-ranked Highlanders took the lead with 2:04 remaining on Issac Yiadom's leaping catch between two defensive backs, everything hinged on Doherty's defense to make one final stop.

Last night’s matchup between offensive powers Shepherd Hill Regional and Doherty High lived up to its hype.

After the third-ranked Highlanders took the lead with 2:04 remaining on Issac Yiadom’s leaping catch between two defensive backs, everything hinged on Doherty’s defense to make one final stop.

The No. 4 Rams got the ball back and swarmed down the field at a ferocious clip. They reached the Highlanders 3-yard line with less than 40 seconds left, but on third and fourth down, Doherty made the stops to preserve a 32-28 victory at Commerce Bank Field at Foley Stadium.

“We knew it would be this kind of game and it lived up to everything we thought it would be,” said Doherty coach Sean Mulcahy, whose team improved to 8-2. “Fortunately we were able to make some huge plays down at the goal line on their final possession.We dug down deep tonight and found a way.”

Holding an eight-point lead at the half, the Highlanders saw that advantage evaporate late in the third quarter. Shepherd Hill (8-2) staged a 70-yard drive behind the running of Jake Gelb (125 yards, 18 carries) and Tyler Simmons (74 yards, 13 carries) to set up Brad Picard’s 5-yard TD. The Rams added the conversion run, tying the game at 20-20.

Early in the fourth, Doherty regained the lead, 26-20, on Sam Oppong’s 2-yard TD, but Gelb answered two minutes later with a 1-yard scoring run. Quarterback Drew Ravenelle ran for the 2-point conversion and a 28-26 lead for the Rams.

But Yiadom’s catch during a 63-yard march on Doherty’s next drive gave the Highlanders the lead for good.

“What a great game,” Shepherd Hill coach Chris Lindstrom said. “They’re a great football team and we’ve got a pretty good football team, too. It was a great battle right to the end. Doherty is fast and athletic and we’re methodical. It’s two totally different styles. They made the plays they had to make.”

Doherty opened the game with a bang when Yiadom hauled in a 60-yard TD strike from Luke Brennan (13 of 24, 224 yards) on the Highlanders’ second play from scrimmage. But with just under three minutes to go in the first quarter, the Rams — after recovering a Yiadom fumble — knotted the game at 6-6 on Ravenelle’s 4-yard keeper.

On the ensuing kickoff, Brennan drove Doherty 69 yards, completing four passes along the way, to set up Yiadom’s 2-yard touchdown run with 10:06 left in the half.

With Shepherd Hill struggling to generate much offense out of its double wing, it finally put together an impressive drive. The Rams moved 70 yards, with fullback Tyler Simmons catapulting across the goal line from a yard out. The conversion failed, however, and Shepherd Hill trailed by two.

With time winding down, a 33-yard run by Oppong set the stage for Brennan’s 16-yard laser to Yiadom in the end zone to give the Highlanders a 20-12 advantage at the break.

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